The
time: April 28, 1765.The
place: somewhere in or near the College of Philadelphia. A young student
named Edward Burd is writing an overdue
letter to his sister Sarah

I
have now been two weeks in College laboring for Dr. Alisons opinion,
which when once granted, will not easily be lost. I will proceed to make
you acquainted with the ceremony of entering College. About three weeks
ago, our Class was alarmed with the News of being examined by the Trustees.
Luckily, we had three days to prepare for it. All which time we were much
afraid of the Issue. I sat up until eleven oclock & rose before five
studying very hard. At length, the much dreaded day arrived. We are conducted
into the Electricity room; where the Revd Mr. Duchee, Mr. Stedman, Dr.
Alison, & Mr. Beveridge were assembled.

You may inform Grandpa that we were first desired to translate a piece
out of English into Latin, then we were examined in Horace & lastly
in Homer. The public Examination of the Senior Class was next day; when
we were again desired to attend at the Electricity Room. Mr. Stedman spoke
as follows viz: On account of your Yesterdays extraordinary performance
Ye are admitted into College.

Neddie
Burd, just 14 when he wrote that letter, cut an elusive figure at the
College of Philadelphia, the Colonial-era avatar of the University. As
the letter indicates, he appears to have takenand passedan entrance
examination, whereupon he spent at least two weeks in the College. Yet
he apparently never matriculated.

I
guess they had problems with the yield even back then, says Mark Lloyd,
director of the University Archives and Records Center, after an extensive
search of tuition payments made between 1755 and 1775 failed to turn up
any references to Burd. No person with the surname of Burd appears as
having enrolled as a student at Penn, much less graduated.

Burd,
a major during the Revolutionary War who was captured by the British in
the Battle of Long Island, did serve as a trustee of the University from
1790 until 1831, two years before his death.

Burd
came to our attention two years ago courtesy of Jonas Raab C02, then
a work-study student at the Gazette. The letter was purchased at
auction by his father, Steven Raab C71 of Havertown, Pa., who recently
closed down his legal-franchising business in order to devote himself
full-time to his historical-document business, Steven S. Raab Autographs.
(The letter was also reprinted in Selections from Letters Written by
Edward Burd, 1763-1828, which was published in 1899 by one of Burds
descendants.)

We
are always looking for interesting historical manuscripts; I comb the
world for them, actually, the elder Raab relates. I found the Burd letter
at auction a few years ago, and was attracted to it because I was a Penn
alum and had two sons attending Penn at that time. It was the earliest
student letter I had ever seen offered for sale relating to any college,
not just Penn. I thought its content, describing the exams to get into
Penn then, was amazing. I thought it might possibly be the earliest known
Penn student letter in private hands, and if not, certainly the earliest
available now.

The
scholars mentioned by young Neddie Burd are Dr. Francis Alison, vice-provost
of the College and the greatest classical Scholar in America, especially
in Greek, according to one contemporary assessment; Rev. Jacob DuchÈ
C1757, professor of oratory and a trustee; John Beveridge, professor of
languages; and Alexander Stedman, a sound lawyer and profound mathematician.

As
for the Electricity Roomthe name almost seems too good to be true, given
the
interests of Penns founderLloyd says that he had never heard of it before.
But, he adds, he has seen references to an Apparatus Room in the original
College building at Fourth and Arch Streets, and since it probably contained
various electricity-related instruments, it may well have been called
the Electricity Room by some.